“The grand essentials to happiness in this life are something to do, something to love, and something to hope for.”
-Joseph Addison
(via the Happiness Project)
Essentials to Happiness
Significant
“Make it simple but significant!”
- Don Draper in Mad Men
Everything Needs Time.
6. “Everything good needs time. Don’t do work in a hurry. Go into details; it pays in every way. Time means power for your work. Mediocrity is always in a rush; but whatever is worth doing at all is worth doing with consideration. For genius is nothing more nor less than doing well what anyone can do badly.”
- Amelia E. Barr
9 Rules for Success by British Novelist Amelia E. Barr, 1901
Reputation
“You can’t build a reputation on what you’re going to do.”
- Henry Ford
(via)
I Did That.
“You should bring something into the world that wasn’t in the world before. It doesn’t matter what that is. It doesn’t matter if it’s a table or a film or gardening — everyone should create. You should do something, then sit back and say, “I did that.’”
- Ricky Gervais
From this Ricky Gervais Interview.
(via Mighty Girl)
How To Listen
“The best way to honor someone who has said something smart and useful is to say something back that is smart and useful. The other way to honor them is to go do something with what you learned.
Good listeners get what they deserve–better speakers.”
- Seth Godin on How to Listen
So Good
‘Be so good they can’t ignore you.’
- Steve Martin
(via this excellent post over on Michael’s blog)
Kindess Rules.
“Nothing can make our life, or the lives of other people, more beautiful than perpetual kindness.”
-Leo Tolstoy
(via Gretchen)
Success
“Success corrupts and limits potential as soon as you start to think you could do it alone.”
- Scott Belsky
Choice
“I believe that we are solely responsible for our choices, and we have to accept the consequences of every deed, word, and thought throughout our lifetime.”
- Elisabeth Kübler-Ross
Go Into The Arts
“Go into the arts. I’m not kidding. The arts are not a way to make a living. They are a very human way of making life more bearable. Practicing an art, no matter how well or badly, is a way to make your soul grow, for heaven’s sake. Sing in the shower. Dance to the radio. Tell stories. Write a poem to a friend, even a lousy poem. Do it as well as you possibly can. You will get an an enormous reward. You will have created something.”
- Kurt Vonnegut
(via Carly)
Double-Loop Learning
“What we learned from conversation with high achievers is that challenging our assumptions, objectives, at times even our goals, may sometimes push us further than we thought possible.”
Secret Ingredient for Success, by Camille Sweeney
Debbie Millman on The Great Discontent
“Avoid compulsively making things worse.”
- Debbie Millman
Debbie was interviewed in The Great Discontent. Read it here.
Success
“Success is not counted by how high you have climbed but by how many people you brought with you.”
- Wil Rose
(via)
The Cost of Neutral
“Not adding value is the same as taking it away.”
- Seth Godin
This blog post by Seth Godin made me say AMEN out loud just now. I fully agree with him when he says: “If you go to work and do what you’re told, you’re not being negative, certainly, but the lack of initiative you demonstrate (which, alas, you were trained not to demonstrate) costs us all, because you’re using a slot that could have been filled by someone who would have added more value.”
Read his full post, The Cost of Neutral.
Lessons by Lucy
In this moving blog post, titled On Dog Hair, Liz Danzico shares what her dog Lucy taught her over the dozen years they were a team:
1. Learn at least one impressive trick.
2. Shake when wet.
3. Wag.
4. When off the leash, it is best to run to a loved one.
5. Accept treats from strangers energetically yet cautiously.
6. Roll in grass whenever possible.
7. Wonderful things can sometimes be found in the trash.
8. Barking is a last resort.
9. Know when the right time is to let go of what you love.
10. True life partners do exist.
Read Liz’s full post.
Josef Muller-Brockmann
“Reduction of content can make all the difference in the outcome of a design.”
A beautiful Article over on I Love Typography celebrating the life and work of Josef Müller-Brockmann.
Graphic Design
“The basic starting point of Graphic Design Criticism as a Spectator Sport is “I could have done better.” And of course you could! But simply having the idea is not enough. Crafting a beautiful solution is not enough. Doing a dramatic presentation is not enough. Convincing all your peers is not enough. Even if you’ve done all that, you still have to go through the hard work of selling it to the client.”
- Michael Bierut
Design Observer Article: Graphic Design Criticism as a Spectator Sport
Be curious.
“Be curious. Read widely. Try new things.
What people call intelligence just boils down to curiosity.”
- Aaron Swartz
Generosity
“When in doubt, always err on the side of generosity!”
- Ping Fu
Invisible
“Good design is often invisible, but it can contribute to reshaping the way our society works.”
- John Maeda
Article: How to design a better world by John Maeda.
